Love in the Snow
by DarkGreiga
Summary: Cliff passed out in the middle of the square after thinking about his past when Claire found him. Once he woke up, he decided to talk to Claire about his problems with his past. What would he tell the blonde haired farmer? R&R!


Last story of the day! Well, sort of... Anyways, here's another Harvest Moon fanfic but I think it's a bit rushed... Anyways, on with the fic!

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_**Harvest Moon – Love in the Snow**_

It was winter season in Mineral Town. Cold white snow fell down from the night clouds, but the cold didn't seem to bother the brown haired young man sitting on a bench in the square. He was alone, staring at an old photo of a man with his wife and their son and daughter. He could feel that the more he stared at the photo, the more his chest ached.

"Cliff! Where are you?" it was the sound of a young woman about his age, calling out his name.

"N-No... if they found me, they wouldn't let me go!" the long brown haired young man stood up slowly, only to fall back on the bench.

His whole body was cold, with trembling legs which prevented him from getting up. He could feel the cold snow on the bench with his bare hands, but he couldn't feel that he was holding the bench anymore. His vision was a complete blur, but he tried getting up although he knew he was in a terrible shape.

"I can't die here... My sister... needs me..." the young man collapsed on the cold, snowy ground.

A blonde haired young woman saw him collapsed and quickly ran over to him.

"CLIFF!"

"_Big Brother!" a 10 years old blonde haired girl yelled at a brown haired young man._

"_What is it, my little sister?" the young man smiled._

"_Promise me that you'll come back as a millionare!" the young man walked over to the girl and rubbed her head._

"_Don't worry, I'll keep my word." the young man turned away and looked around them. They were in a small port in a small island. A bell rang, notifying the boat passengers to get on board._

"_Take care, Big Brother!" the girl yelled while waving at the now running young man._

"_You take care of yourself too!" the young man yelled and waved back._

"Uhhh..." the brown haired young man,Cliff, opened his eyes slowly. He looked around him, noticing that he was in the clinic. He turned to his right and found the blonde young woman sitting beside him and almost fell asleep. "Claire..."

"It looks like you're awake now..." Cliff saw that a woman with short brown hair had entered the room formed by some curtains.

"Huh?" Claire opened her eyes and saw that Cliff was awake. "Cliff! Are you feeling okay? I saw you collapsed in the middle of the square!"

"O-Oh, I'm fine now..." Cliff slowly sat up from his bed. "Did you take me here?"

"Yeah. Is something wrong with that?" Claire asked, but suddenly remembered something. "Oh yeah, I saw that you were holding this old photo." The blonde gave him the old photo.

Cliff took another good look at the photo and smiled sadly. He turned to Claire with the sad smile, which was clearly noticed by the two females. "Thank you, Claire... You're so kind to help even someone like me..." He slowly turned back to look at the photo.

"What are you talking about? You needed some help, so I lent you a hand!" Claire replied, slightly annoyed. Cliff suddenly turned to her, surprised at what she had said. He saw the serious look on her face, telling him that she wasn't joking around.

Cliff lowered his head a bit and whispered, "Ellie, could you please let us talk outside?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you..." Ellie was interrupted.

"I'll take care of him!" Ellie turned to the blonde as she stood up from her seat. "I'll make sure he doesn't faint again!"

The brown haired woman paused for a bit to think before she nodded and gave them a warm smile. "Okay, but make sure you two don't stay out in the snow for too long!"

"Okay, please excuse us..." Cliff got off his bed and politely left the room.

Once they got out of the clinic, the city was still snowing. The icy wind blew softly as Cliff led Claire into the square again. He took her hand while he had the photo in his other hand. They saw that no one was in the square, as not many people liked to stay out in the snowy weather for too long. They stopped walking in front of the way towards the beach.

Claire noticed that Cliff had stopped walking, but he kept looking away from her and stared at the beach a few feet away from them. Claire walked to his side, and saw that he was smiling sadly.

"Claire... I need to tell you something that you mustn't tell anyone just yet..." he started, his eyes still locked on the beach.

"Okay, I won't tell anyone. What is it about?" Claire asked as Cliff handed her the photo.

"It had been a while since I left my hometown to find a job. My parents aren't around anymore, so my sister had to live all by herself." Cliff's face became more serious. "I have been here for almost two years now and I haven't got a proper job yet, so..." Cliff turned to Claire, "I have to leave this town, for good..."

Claire's eyes grew wide in shock. She was going to say something to convince him to stay, but what should she say? She couldn't find a good idea for Cliff's job in town, but she wanted him to stay. She didn't know why, but she wanted him to be by her side as someone she could talk to after a hard day of work in the farm. With that, she finally got the idea.

"Cliff, will you work together with me?" Claire suddenly said, which surprised him. "I-I mean as partners, not as... you know... 'something else'?"

Cliff recovered from the shock and smiled. "Thanks, but why?"

"U-Uh..." Claire's face flushed after he gave her the question, and she couldn't find a good answer for it.

"Never mind about that, I think I could guess the answer..." Cliff walked closer to her and gave her a hug. Claire was shocked by the sudden hug, but she was comfortable with it and hugged him back. "You're always so kind and helpful towards others, Claire... That's what I really like in you..."

"Thanks..." Claire's face was a bit red from the blush, but he couldn't see her face in that position.

Cliff pulled from the hug and grabbed Claire shoulders gently. "Don't worry, Claire! I'll work hard and I'll make sure that I don't get in your way!"

"Okay, but don't push yourself too hard..." Claire leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Because I need you more than a co-worker..." Cliff stared at her blankly, not expecting her move at all.

"Come on, we shouldn't stay out for too long!" Claire pulled the still frozen Cliff and headed towards the inn.

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I guess now I could say that I'm better with longer story plots... Anyways, please review!


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